6 ms·

That is like ... blowing my American mind. I'm imagining whole swathes of code in self driving cars that are just commented out before they deliver to the UK.

com2kid 5y ago
A small road joining a larger road is also an implicit yield in America, but no one reads the bloody drivers manuals!
- devilbunny 5y ago
  I had a driving examiner try to fail me for that very offense when I took my test long ago. I was in a neighborhood, on the vertical part of a T intersection with no stop sign present. I slowed until I had a clear view that there was no traffic approaching from either direction, then proceeded. I complained when I returned. Asked to be shown where that rule was present in the state's official driver's manual. It wasn't in there. I passed.
  - devilbunny 5y ago
    Because I am a moron who got distracted: the examiner insisted that I had run an implicit stop sign.
AshleyGrant 5y ago
There are lots of rules that are implicit on European roads. You have to actually read the signs. And as an American, it really requires studying before attempting to drive there. As an example, in Germany, the speed limit on 2-lane highways is (from memory, it's been 5 years) 100 kph. But when you enter a town, which is designated by a specific sign that tells you the name of the town, the speed limit drops to 50 kph. There is no sign that says "speed limit is now 50 kph." It is implicit from the sign saying you are entering that town. Upon leaving the town, there will be a "speed restriction removed" sign. This doesn't mean there's no speed limit, it means the speed restriction has been removed and your speed limit is back to 100 kph. Yield or "give way" signs make tons of sense. Think of a small two lane road that crosses a four-lane highway. The cars on the larger road have the right of way and cars entering or crossing must give way/yield to that traffic. There's generally no need for a stop sign, but we as Americans are used to it and see it as the only way to do things.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- giobox 5y ago
  I find the UK's road sign for "National Speed Limit Applies" to be surely one of the worst designed road signs in history. Much like your German example, it exists solely to tell you the speed limit has changed. Rather than put a number on a sign and be done with it, its an inexplicable white circle with a black line across it! What is the "National Speed Limit" you ask? Again it depends on where you are, and even what you are driving. The only advantage I can think of is they don't need to replace these signs should the limits be changed... > https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UK_national_speed_limit_signs_on_a_single-carriageway.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UK_national_speed_li...
  - tharkun__ 5y ago
    That part also exists in Germany. The 100kph on the "Landstrasse" - which does not mean two lane highway, it could simply be the road connecting two small towns that doesn't look much different from the road in town except for no houses on either side - only applies to cars. Trucks have an automatic limit of 80kph. That is sooo dumb! Lots and lots of accidents because cars get stuck behind trucks and get aggravated. Especially on one lane ones that have enough traffic to make passing almost impossible. And since this is Germany, most of these aren't straight like you might expect from the US. These are usually very meandering, which makes it real hard to pass those trucks. And never mind the actual highways, where there's no speed limit unless posted. And trucks still can only go 80kph. So you have 2 lane Autobahn. Trucks at 80-99kph on the right lane. 90-200kph cars on the left lane. The trucks that go 80 will have a bunch of trucks that want to go 90 trying to pass them. Then add the ups and downs where even the 90kph truck that's passing will slow to 75. Even if you're only cruising at 150kph (actually a pretty nice cruising speed), if you come up on an "elephant race" as they call it behind a bend in the road it's not fun. This extends to 3 lane highways too. Just that now you actually have cars switching from the middle lane to the left lane, because one truck is passing another. So you have an 80kph truck on the right, 90kph truck on the middle lane and a 100kph car in the left lane and the 200kph Mercedes or BMW approaching from the rear.
paganel 5y ago
For what is worth the same happens in Romania and, judging by other people commenting in here, in most of Europe. Around my parts of the continent (Bucharest) a stop sign is in place only if you really, really need to stop for the safety of traffic (usually to ensure better visibility, you see the perpendicular traffic better while you're at a complete stop). More exactly the "need to stop for ensuring safety" has come first, followed by the Stop sign itself, while in the US it looks like the Stop sign has come first, no matter the actual "neediness" related to traffic safety.
brimble 5y ago
An extremely-well-traveled travel photo-blogger I read sometimes, who has a thing for signs (among other things, like fire hydrants), noted that only one or two other countries in the world come anywhere close to the US when it comes to posting rules on things. He framed it as practically the defining feature of American cities and towns: signs with rules on them, everywhere.
- Someone 5y ago
  I think that’s because their driving license tests are so easy to pass. It seems they can’t assume drivers recognize a “no U-turn” sign, even though there’s a clear similarity with other signs (round with a red edge and a diagonal red line means forbidden, black arrows mean driving directions) So, they write its meaning below it (https://www.alamy.com/beverly-hills-california-usa-8th-september-2021-a-general-view-of-atmosphere-of-no-u-turn-sign-on-rexford-drive-on-september-8-2021-in-beverly-hills-california-usa-photo-by-barry-kingalamy-stock-photo-image448154940.html https://www.alamy.com/beverly-hills-california-usa-8th-septe...). Weirdly, they do assume their population and tourists can understand written English when passing such signs at speed in a car and even know what a ped xing is. It may be a broader cultural thing, though. Their state flags also are full of text (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_the_U.S._states_and_territories https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_the_U.S._states_and_t...)
- throwawayboise 5y ago
  I agree. Signage is out of control in most of the US. On the roads, but not just on the roads. It's visual noise, often redundant or stating what already is apparent, and I think it's stress-inducing. It's probably related to the litigiousness of American society. If someone got hurt, and there wasn't a sign telling him to not do the clearly dangerous or stupid thing he did, a lawsuit will be filed.

com2kid 5y ago

A small road joining a larger road is also an implicit yield in America, but no one reads the bloody drivers manuals!

devilbunny 5y ago
I had a driving examiner try to fail me for that very offense when I took my test long ago. I was in a neighborhood, on the vertical part of a T intersection with no stop sign present. I slowed until I had a clear view that there was no traffic approaching from either direction, then proceeded. I complained when I returned. Asked to be shown where that rule was present in the state's official driver's manual. It wasn't in there. I passed.
- devilbunny 5y ago
  Because I am a moron who got distracted: the examiner insisted that I had run an implicit stop sign.

AshleyGrant 5y ago

There are lots of rules that are implicit on European roads. You have to actually read the signs. And as an American, it really requires studying before attempting to drive there. As an example, in Germany, the speed limit on 2-lane highways is (from memory, it's been 5 years) 100 kph. But when you enter a town, which is designated by a specific sign that tells you the name of the town, the speed limit drops to 50 kph. There is no sign that says "speed limit is now 50 kph." It is implicit from the sign saying you are entering that town. Upon leaving the town, there will be a "speed restriction removed" sign. This doesn't mean there's no speed limit, it means the speed restriction has been removed and your speed limit is back to 100 kph. Yield or "give way" signs make tons of sense. Think of a small two lane road that crosses a four-lane highway. The cars on the larger road have the right of way and cars entering or crossing must give way/yield to that traffic. There's generally no need for a stop sign, but we as Americans are used to it and see it as the only way to do things.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
giobox 5y ago
I find the UK's road sign for "National Speed Limit Applies" to be surely one of the worst designed road signs in history. Much like your German example, it exists solely to tell you the speed limit has changed. Rather than put a number on a sign and be done with it, its an inexplicable white circle with a black line across it! What is the "National Speed Limit" you ask? Again it depends on where you are, and even what you are driving. The only advantage I can think of is they don't need to replace these signs should the limits be changed... > https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UK_national_speed_limit_signs_on_a_single-carriageway.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UK_national_speed_li...
- tharkun__ 5y ago
  That part also exists in Germany. The 100kph on the "Landstrasse" - which does not mean two lane highway, it could simply be the road connecting two small towns that doesn't look much different from the road in town except for no houses on either side - only applies to cars. Trucks have an automatic limit of 80kph. That is sooo dumb! Lots and lots of accidents because cars get stuck behind trucks and get aggravated. Especially on one lane ones that have enough traffic to make passing almost impossible. And since this is Germany, most of these aren't straight like you might expect from the US. These are usually very meandering, which makes it real hard to pass those trucks. And never mind the actual highways, where there's no speed limit unless posted. And trucks still can only go 80kph. So you have 2 lane Autobahn. Trucks at 80-99kph on the right lane. 90-200kph cars on the left lane. The trucks that go 80 will have a bunch of trucks that want to go 90 trying to pass them. Then add the ups and downs where even the 90kph truck that's passing will slow to 75. Even if you're only cruising at 150kph (actually a pretty nice cruising speed), if you come up on an "elephant race" as they call it behind a bend in the road it's not fun. This extends to 3 lane highways too. Just that now you actually have cars switching from the middle lane to the left lane, because one truck is passing another. So you have an 80kph truck on the right, 90kph truck on the middle lane and a 100kph car in the left lane and the 200kph Mercedes or BMW approaching from the rear.

paganel 5y ago

For what is worth the same happens in Romania and, judging by other people commenting in here, in most of Europe. Around my parts of the continent (Bucharest) a stop sign is in place only if you really, really need to stop for the safety of traffic (usually to ensure better visibility, you see the perpendicular traffic better while you're at a complete stop). More exactly the "need to stop for ensuring safety" has come first, followed by the Stop sign itself, while in the US it looks like the Stop sign has come first, no matter the actual "neediness" related to traffic safety.

brimble 5y ago

An extremely-well-traveled travel photo-blogger I read sometimes, who has a thing for signs (among other things, like fire hydrants), noted that only one or two other countries in the world come anywhere close to the US when it comes to posting rules on things. He framed it as practically the defining feature of American cities and towns: signs with rules on them, everywhere.

Someone 5y ago
I think that’s because their driving license tests are so easy to pass. It seems they can’t assume drivers recognize a “no U-turn” sign, even though there’s a clear similarity with other signs (round with a red edge and a diagonal red line means forbidden, black arrows mean driving directions) So, they write its meaning below it (https://www.alamy.com/beverly-hills-california-usa-8th-september-2021-a-general-view-of-atmosphere-of-no-u-turn-sign-on-rexford-drive-on-september-8-2021-in-beverly-hills-california-usa-photo-by-barry-kingalamy-stock-photo-image448154940.html https://www.alamy.com/beverly-hills-california-usa-8th-septe...). Weirdly, they do assume their population and tourists can understand written English when passing such signs at speed in a car and even know what a ped xing is. It may be a broader cultural thing, though. Their state flags also are full of text (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_the_U.S._states_and_territories https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_the_U.S._states_and_t...)
throwawayboise 5y ago
I agree. Signage is out of control in most of the US. On the roads, but not just on the roads. It's visual noise, often redundant or stating what already is apparent, and I think it's stress-inducing. It's probably related to the litigiousness of American society. If someone got hurt, and there wasn't a sign telling him to not do the clearly dangerous or stupid thing he did, a lawsuit will be filed.